Man, 70, is killed in Winchendon blaze

A 70-year-old man was killed in a windswept, two-alarm fire that destroyed his home at 95 Beachview Drive shortly before 7 p.m. Friday.

Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early, said today that the body of Donald Willett was found in the ruins of the house Friday night.

Fire Chief Thomas Smith said the 2-1/2-story wooden house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and there were reports that a person was trapped inside. Search crews were forced out of the building by intense heat and by live power lines near the entrance, according to the chief. Further attempts to enter the house were thwarted by heavy flames and the building’s imminent collapse, he said.

A tanker shuttle was organized using water tankers from Ashburnham, Templeton, Phillipston, Ashby and the New Hampshire communities of Rindge, Jaffrey and Troy.

Crews were sent into a nearby home when it was reported that embers from the fire had entered the attic area. Firefighters were able to limit damage to the second home to exterior heat damage.

Once the fire was out, a joint investigation by Winchendon fire and police officials, the state fire marshal’s office and state police detectives assigned to the district attorney’s office led to the discovery of the victim’s body, Chief Smith said.

Records from the Worcester County Registry of Deeds identify the owners of the single-family house as Mr. Willett and Viviane Willett.

While the cause remains under investigation, Chief Smith said the fire has been deemed accidental.

The Gardner and Royalston fire departments assisted at the scene, and firefighters from Fitzwilliam, N.H., covered the local fire station. The Highway Department spread sand at the icy fire scene.